The 66th HALA Recommendation: Tax Increment Financing

For so many years, whenever I was in a room or panel and the issue of housing or urban development came up you could be sure that I would make sure Tax Increment Financing (TIF) got into the discussion. It was a predilection that I took with me when I went to work at the […]

Most Promising HALA Recommendation: On-Street Parking Reform

Buried deep in the HALA document are a pair of recommendations that could, if pursued, really effect neighborhoods where new infill development and parking politics collide. By awarding recommendations “OP1 Create a parking benefit district and ‘cap and trade’ demonstration/pilot program“ and “OP2 Explore revising the Restricted Parking Zone (RPZ) program” as the most promising […]

Why We Talk About Housing Affordability Rather Than Poverty

This weekend I saw the important documentary, “The IF Project” about an effort at both preventing young people from ending up in jail by having prisoners share their stories. The IF Project asks the basic question, “If there was something someone could have said or done that would have changed the path that led you here, […]